Video: iPad is the brain for self-driving car

Oxford University has a robotic car using an iPad to take the wheel.

Self-driving cars are quickly changing from a staple of sci-fi movies to reality in recent years. But not all self-driving cars are implemented the same way. One such variation has been developed by Oxford University in the UK and makes use of an iPad as the main nerve center for the car's auto-driving capabilities.

Oxford's iPad car aims to be a middle-of-the-road solution between a standard, human-driven automobile and a fully self-operational car. When drivers come upon a familiar route, the iPad asks them whether they want the car to take the wheel—"touching the screen then switches to 'auto drive' where the robotic system takes over. At any time a tap on the brake pedal will return control to the human driver," Oxford wrote in its own description of the vehicle.

The university announced the robotic car in mid-February, but the news flew under the radar until Clean Technica (no relation to Ars) posted several more videos this week from YouTube. The videos show how the car handles pedestrians, how it starts up using the iPad, and more. Check them out below:

The Next Big Future blog reported on this a couple of weeks back and claimed that iPad merely handles the user interface:

Quote:

There are three computers onboard. The iPad, the LLC (Low Level Controller) and the MVC (Main Vehicle Computer). The iPad runs the user interface and demands constant attention from the LLC. If any of these computers disagree the driver will not be able to start autonomous driving. If at any point there is a problem when the car is in control the human driver is prompted to take control, if they fail to do so the car is automatically brought to a stop. http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/02/7700-self-driving-car-system-uses-off.html

It's obviously early software, but it seems to be very lane un-aware. Otherwise seems to be an interesting way to implement a version of autopilot, which would probably be a faster adoption option then a fully self-driving vehicle.

I have a hard enough time trusting a cruise control. Turning control over to something like this in traffic would be nerve-wracking.

And if something glitches and a self-driving car blithely runs over a child in traffic, is the lump reading the newspaper in the driver's seat liable? ...or the car manufacturer? ...or both?

But, alas, I can see the day when unmanned semi's are in traffic delivering loads from point A to B -which I find even MORE chilling considering the typically low level of maintenance of these vehicles.)

I can see an owner scratching his head over whether to buy another tire retread -or fix the glitchy autopilot. ...brrrr

The Next Big Future blog reported on this a couple of weeks back and claimed that iPad merely handles the user interface:

Quote:

There are three computers onboard. The iPad, the LLC (Low Level Controller) and the MVC (Main Vehicle Computer). The iPad runs the user interface and demands constant attention from the LLC. If any of these computers disagree the driver will not be able to start autonomous driving. If at any point there is a problem when the car is in control the human driver is prompted to take control, if they fail to do so the car is automatically brought to a stop. http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/02/7700-self-driving-car-system-uses-off.html

Thanks. I was wondering about that. Other autonomous cars have had a trunk full of computers to do the job. Can't image one iPad would be enough. Maybe in a few years? Besides you'd almost certainly need to jailbreak it to run the software that runs the control hardware and the sensors.

"YOU FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE iOS SOFTWARE AND SERVICES ARE NOT INTENDED OR SUITABLE FOR USE IN SITUATIONS OR ENVIRONMENTS WHERE THE FAILURE OR TIME DELAYS OF, OR ERRORS OR INACCURACIES IN, THE CONTENT, DATA OR INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE iOS SOFTWARE OR SERVICES COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL, LIFE SUPPORT OR WEAPONS SYSTEMS. "

I just think it'll be interesting to see what happens when auto-driving cars are clearly identified on the road and when pedestrians realize they no longer have to pay attention to traffic signals if it's an auto-driving car approaching.

I won't ever own a sellf driving vehicle that makes decisions for me. Even if I simply have to start back buying Classic Vehicles and fixing them up.

Which brings up another issue - how are these self-driving vehicles going to account for random occurances by people without the tpye of vehicle ? I guarantee there is not enough reaction time from the on-board computers to account for reckless drivers.

And the first time that someone else's hits into me - going to sue the living shit out of the owner - the car maker and the software developer to the point where the industries get the point that people should not be lazy.

If you don't want to drive - then don't own a car and take a frakking cab.

They better back up or they won't have enough road to get up to 88. (Sadly we're almost at 2015, yet we do still need roads.)

Actually, most drivers seem to rev their engines and speed up when they see a pedestrian, so if this goes on public roads it'll probably cause a ten-car pileup when it brakes and all the manually-driven cars smash into the back of it.

[snip] I guarantee there is not enough reaction time from the on-board computers to account for reckless drivers.

You have an exaggerated opinion of your own reaction time. If you're a young whippersnapper in top physical and mental condition, you might be able to begin applying the brakes 750 milliseconds after a stimulus that prompts you to do so. If you're a sixty-harruummph old f@rt, like I am, it could take more than twice that long.

Dunno about iPads, but I guarantee you that a properly engineered and implemented control system can do far better than 750 ms. from stimulus to control activation. I give you the F-16 fighter, in production since 1976, as an example. Add 35 years of computer, sensor, and software development to see what's available now.

I don't want to minimize the problems of an autonomous automobile; there are a lot of them, but reaction time is not one of them.

Am I the only one that thinks they want to automate the car so they can legalize certain substances and/or be able to go home from the bar whenever they want?

I enjoy those substances, but that is not my personal, primary reason for wanting automated automobiles. It's all about the traffic. Being able to remove the humans and all their oh-so-lovely driving abilities from the actual driving part would be a dream come true. The end of traffic as we know it. Accidents virtually eliminated.